News

We are pleased to announce that the PBJ will be flying up to Everett, Washington on July 20th through 23rd to participate in the Flying Heritage Museum’s annual Skyfair airshow where the aircraft will be made available for rides as the airshow schedule permits.

Reserve your seats now to experience a ride aboard  the PBJ

Friday 7/21 @ 9:30 AM, 3:00 PM, 4:00 PM and 5:00PM
Saturday 7/22 @  4:15 PM and 5:15 PM
Sunday 7/23 @ 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM

Please note that all flight times are subject to weather, maintenance and flight occupancy.

CAF SoCal Living History Presentation Series: Harnessing the Sky: Fredrick “Trap” Trapnell The U.S. Navy’s Aviation Pioneer

From bi-planes to jets!

On Saturday, June 10th, local author Dana Trapnell Tibbitts presented her book on the nearly lost history of her grandfather,  the man called the “godfather of modern naval aviation.”

Dana Trapnell Tibbitts and John Torgerson

The excellent presentation of the  award winning biography, Harnessing The Sky: Frederick “Trap” Trapnell, the U.S. Navy’s Aviation Pioneer can be viewed on our YouTube channel at the following link:

After the presentation and a Q/A session, the author was  available for a book signing for the audience. Autographed copies are also available at the museum’s gift shop.

Despite a thick marine layer, the weather was cooperative enough to allow us to conclude the day’s activities by flying  Minisi III, CAF SoCal’s Zero killer F6F Hellcat, an example of an airplane whose expedited development under Trapnell was critical to U.S. victory in World War II.

Congratulations to Chris Liguori, our latest Zero pilot.  

Chris Liguori, post Zero flight

Chris was introduced to CAFSoCal a few years ago as a P51 warbird ride participant – a gift from his lovely wife.  

Since then he’s been at the wing, pitching in as time allows and has proven to be a more than capable pilot behind the controls of the F6F Hellcat.

Anxious to add to his repertoire, Chris  just had his first flight behind the stick of a Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero on June 3rd.

Way to go Chris! You’ve joined a small and distinguished group of people on the planet! Can’t imagine what that must feel like.

Following the flight, Chris was met by a proud ground crew and his ceremonial shot of sake!

Chris Liguori receiving his shot of Sake after his first flight on the A6M3 Zero

Great guy that he is, Chris has promised to give us a quick interview comparing what it’s like to fly the Zero vs the Hellcat. We’ll have that up soon. 

The B-25/PBJ and the Hellcat participated in the 2017 Memorial Day Weekend activities at the Palm Springs Air Museum.

Our aircraft arrived on Saturday and were on display at the museum for the weekend. The PBJ was made available for rides and took to the sky on multiple warbird ride missions to the delight of all involved.

The Holiday weekend ended with museum’s annual “Flower Drop” where hundreds of red and white carnations were dropped from the bomb bay of the B25 “Pacific Princess”. The red and white flowers against the blue sky was a spectacle to be witnessed in person. The airdrop was followed by a Missing Man Formation which included our PBJ and Hellcat as well as a P63 King Cobra and a P51-D.

Thanks to Scott Plummer or airshowvid.com for generously sharing some of the footage for the video.

What a great weekend and a privilege to have been part of the moving ceremonies honoring our veterans. Our sincere gratitude goes to the organizers and volunteers at the PSAM for their tireless efforts in putting on a great show as well as their unmatched hospitality.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Hellcat made a great photo subject on the return trip back to Camarillo, late on Monday.

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We all wish we could fly these beautiful warbirds.

Failing that, we are happy to settle for hearing first-hand from those skilled enough to fly a vintage WWII fighter.

In this candid video, CAF Col. Steve McCartney graciously shares his first impressions of the Spitfire Mk. XIV after his second flight ever piloting the sleek aircraft. It helped that the questions were coming from Ms. Caroline Sheen of the Air & Space Magazine who was spending a full day of her Southern California vacation at the CAFSoCal museum and hangars.

The impromptu session ends with Caroline asking us “do YOU want to get your pilot’s license?”  Well, yes. Maybe. But we’ll leave the warbird flying to folks like Steve!

Our B-25/PBJ will be at the Palm Springs Air Museum for the Memorial Day Weekend.  

While it is there we will be selling rides in the world’s only flying PBJ.  

You can purchase and schedule your ride on the PBJ in advance using our Rides webpage and choosing the Memorial Day weekend dates and times from the drop down list.

After a seemingly interminable wait, the newly overhauled Merlin engine has been delivered to CAFSoCal and the maintenance crew wasted no time in starting the installation process.

We anticipate a test run of the engine in the next few day, followed by a test flight after which the Mustang will again be available for the remainder of the airshow season as well as the warbird rides program.

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Our incredible events staff’s continued success in fundraising for the museum via booking events at the hangars has made it necessary, once again, to close to museum hangars to public access for a short period:

The CAF SoCal Museum will be closed (for a closed-set filming):
Thursday & Friday, May 11 and 12 and

Monday & Tuesday, May 15 and 16, 2017

Come see us weekend of the 13th or after the 17th and treat yourself to a close up view of the aircraft which thrilled the crowds at the recent airshow in Chino.

The PBJ is back in the home hangars following an outstanding 13 day barnstorming tour culminating in participation in the 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid Commemoration at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. 

The debut tour for the PBJ included stops in New Mexico, Kansas, Ohio, Arkansas and Texas, to eager crowds for aircraft tours and rides.
We are thrilled to report that the aircraft performed impeccably and the reception of the host organizations and enthusiasm of the public far surpassed any expectations.

Col. Cole accepting a PBJ Patch from the crew

Group photo of all participating B25 crewsThe following short video serves as the highlight of the main event at the NMUSAF in Dayton.

This playlist contains videos of the veterans we met during the tour:

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our supporters who followed us on this epic journey and offered their encouragement and praise to a tired crew on the various social media platforms. 

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Follow this link for a presentation on North American B-25 production facilities in Kansas

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Images from tour stop locations, Gathering of Mitchells at Grimes Field and the Doolittle Commemoration assembly and flyover at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

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